Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responds to Yerevan

Baku/04.01.23/Turan: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the Armenian Foreign Ministry's 3 January call to send a fact-finding mission to the Lachin road a provocation.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry has distorted the real situation regarding the protest by a group of representatives of the Azerbaijani civil society protesting against the plundering of the country's natural wealth. The Armenian side remains interested in the continuation of illegal economic and other activities in Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's comments noted.

On 3-10 December 2022 attempts were made to resolve the issue through negotiations. "Despite all these efforts, the Armenian side ignored appeals and prevented access to the territory for representatives of Azerbaijani state institutions.

All this has caused a legitimate protest from the Azerbaijani public and a peaceful demonstration is now taking place.

Any opinion expressed against these protests is considered by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry as "a direct violation of the norms and principles of international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and disrespect for the Constitution of the country," the comment says.

"It is an indisputable fact that vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Russian peacekeeping contingent and medical vehicles freely pass along the road every day. Furthermore, both the Azerbaijani government and civil society representatives have declared their readiness to promptly address any humanitarian needs the Armenian residents may encounter," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed.

Despite these calls, "provocateurs posing themselves as representatives of Armenians living in Karabakh are creating obstacles for the population to use the road. Therefore, it is Armenia that violates the Trilateral Statement using the Lachin road for exporting illegally mined ore, military supplies of Armenian armed forces that have not been completely withdrawn from Azerbaijan, transferring mines into Azerbaijani territory, facilitating illegal entry of third-country nationals into Karabakh.

The accusation of deportation and ethnic cleansing by the Armenian Foreign Ministry against Azerbaijan is not only absurd, but also an attempt to cover up the systematic and consistent policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenians against Azerbaijanis in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the twentieth century.

Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to respect its obligations under international law and the Trilateral Statement, to refrain from actions against Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to cease aggressive political and military provocations. -06В-